Frost/Nixon: Behind the Scenes of the Nixon Interviews is divided into two parts. First there's a look at Frost's decision to interview Nixon when he was basically persona non grata, at a time when Nixon was trying to get back into public life. This was not an easy thing to accomplish for Frost -- a LOT of negotiation went on, including questions over how much money Nixon would get, who was going to have editorial control, the topics that Nixon would speak on, etc. This part of the book also examines the series of interviews that took place, and how Frost was able to ask questions and not get bogged down in Nixon's somewhat elusive answers, especially on Watergate, Vietnam and Chile. It also takes a look at how Nixon tries to, in effect, rewrite some of the history of his tenure as President, even though the Watergate tapes showed he wasn't being quite truthful. Frost also examines what happened after the interviews aired and Nixon went back into public life. After writing about the tapings, Frost takes a look at Nixon's presidency and briefly assesses both negative and positive aspects of Nixon's time in office prior to his resignation. He doesn't just dwell on Watergate but goes on to examine Nixon's foreign policy decisions as well. The second part contains the transcripts of the interviews by topic. This was an interesting read, but for me, it was less the behind the scenes stuff and more for Nixon's perspective on his own wrongdoings and those of the men who worked for him. Also, I realized after reading this that the bad-guy Nixon was the same person who did things like open up China. Frost's take on Nixon's tenure in office also gives the reader food for thought. I have a bone to pick with Frost, though...it's minor but worth noting. Considering the man is a journalist, he should know that Chinese people always state their last names first, so it grated on my nerves when he'd say Mao Zedong and then refer to Zhou Enlai as "En-lai," or Hua Guofeng as Guo-feng, just knowing he was probably using their first names as last names. I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who is even mildly interested in the topic. There is a LOT of information on not only Watergate, but other issues of the late 1960s, early 1970s such as Vietnam, civil rights, the cold war and the role of the two major superpowers of the era. I read this book before the movie, and I think anyone who is planning to see the film may find it helpful, even though parts of the movie are fictionalized. Lest we think "so what -- that was then", on page 89, in the center of the page, there is a bit of transcript which reads something like this: Frost: "So in a sense what you're saying is that there are certain situations...where the president can decide that it's in the best interest of the nation or something and do something illegal?" Nixon: "Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal." Frost: "By definition?" Nixon: "Exactly, exactly." This extract is only a part of what Nixon had to say during the Frost/Nixon interviews, but it's important, and it's (imho) still relevant.
2022-09-06 00:53